Why Queen Camilla Hasn't Joined Her Family's WhatsApp Group

Queen Camilla talks on an old rotary phone while wearing a green dress

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 25 October 2024

Queen Camilla is currently on a royal tour of Australia and Samoa with King Charles, but her family won't be expecting a reply on WhatsApp anytime soon. In a new interview, Camilla's son, Tom Parker Bowles, opened up about his mom's aversion to cell phones and using WhatsApp, in particular.

In an interview with Woman & Home (via the Express), Parker Bowles discussed how he keeps in contact with his mom when she's traveling for work. "She's working a lot harder." He continued, "She's always worked quite hard [so] it's still the case of, I ring my mother, she doesn't answer, I look on the television [and think] 'Ah! She's in Jersey.'"

Another reason that Parker Bowles finds it difficult to keep track of his royal mom is because she refuses to update her cell phone. When asked if the Parker Bowles clan has a WhatsApp group, the food writer revealed, "We do—my children, my sister, and my cousins—but my mom still uses an old-fashioned Nokia telephone, [so] she can't. I think it's for security."

Queen Camilla wearing a white dress and shaking hands with a large crowd of fans waving Australian flags

While keeping in touch via WhatsApp isn't possible, it appears that Parker Bowles' children love spending time with their royal grandparents. Parker Bowles told Love Your Weekend (via the Express), "The children, of course, don't really know any different. So 'Uppa,' as they call the King, they've grown up with this man that they all love and think is wonderful."

While promoting his new book, Cooking and the Crown: Royal Recipes from Queen Victoria to King Charles III, the food writer elaborated on what it's like being Queen Camilla's son. "If anyone ever meets my mother, they always ... I mean, a son would say this, but she’s someone I love going to have dinner with," he told the The Times.

Parker Bowles continued, "And I go for a walk with her in Scotland. You’re always going to have your rows, differences of opinion. It would be very odd if we agreed [on] everything. Creepy. I certainly would annoy her sometimes."

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Amy Mackelden is a contributing editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.